“Sure,” Han’s voice came back. “I got the ion cannon, but it got a shot off at one of the transports first. Don’t know if they’re disabled or not. You?”
“No problems yet,” Luke said. His danger sense flickered, and he dropped the X-wing into another twist as a withering pattern of laser fire cut through the spot he’d just vacated. Swinging up and around, he settled in behind one of the attacking Corsairs. It was a long time since he’d done this kind of thing on any sort of regular basis, but he didn’t seem nearly as rusty as he’d feared he would be. “These things are better armored than TIE fighters, but they’re not nearly as maneuverable.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when he nearly had to eat them. Abruptly the Corsair in front of him cut sharply to starboard, twisting out of Luke’s line of fire and trying to swing in behind him. Clenching his teeth, Luke matched the maneuver, and for a few seconds they chased each other around in a tight circle, each trying for a clear shot. Luke won by a single heartbeat, and the Corsair flashed into flame and debris.
From his comm came an anxious Wookiee snarl. “I’m okay, Chewie,” Luke said, stretching out to the Force for calm. That one had been a little too close. “You two still all right?”
“So far,” Han put in. “Watch it-they’re probably getting mad now.”
Luke smiled lopsidedly and took a quick look around. The last two Corsairs were heading full-throttle toward him, but he had a few seconds yet before he had to do anything about them. In the near distance he could see the battlecruiser, firing furiously at the much smaller Falcon skimming like a stingily across its hull, systematically taking out turbolaser emplacements as it went. To one side, the two gunships were exchanging fire with the New Republic transports, which were clearly better armed than they had first appeared. The rest of the freighter traffic around them was understandably vacating the area just as fast as they could.
He frowned, focusing again on the battlecruiser. With his decision to back away from using the full power of the Force against the pirates much of the confusion and tension in his mind seemed to have cleared away.
And now, in that silence, he could sense something strange about the big ship out there. A strangeness he hadn’t felt for a long time…
Artoo shrilled a warning. “Right,” Luke said, shaking the feeling away. The two Corsairs were coming in fast, the wingman to portside and slightly behind the leader. “Here’s the plan,” he told the droid. “On my signal, run full power to the top starboard engine and to both portside braking vents. After four seconds cut the vents and throw half power to all engines. Got it?”
The droid whistled acknowledgment. Resting his thumbs on the proton torpedo triggers, Luke watched the Corsairs streaking toward him, stretching out through the Force to touch the minds of the two crews. Not to control or twist, but merely watching the texture of their thoughts. Holding course, he waited … “Now,” he called to Artoo. The droid’s warble was swallowed up by the sudden roar of the drive; and a second later the X-wing was spinning wildly around its center of mass. Eyes half-closed, Luke let the Force guide the timing of his shot&mdash
And then he was jammed back into his seat as the X-wing took off on a new trajectory, straightening reluctantly out of its spin.
Blinking against his sudden dizziness, Luke looked around for the Corsairs.
The gambit had worked. Concentrating on his Gandder’s spin, trying to anticipate the direction he would take when he popped out of it, they’d probably never even noticed the incoming proton torpedoes until it was too late.
“Luke?” Han’s voice came over the comm. “Looks like they’re pulling out.”
Sternly addressing his rebellious inner ear, Luke brought the X-wing around again The battlecruiser was driving for deep space, the two gunships right behind it. One of the gunships, he noted, was showing considerable damage. “Artoo, give me a damage assessment,” Luke said, switching his comm control to one of the official New Republic frequencies. “Transports, this is New Republic X-wing AA-589,” he said. “What’s your situation?”
“Looking a lot better than it was a few minutes ago,” the reply came back promptly. “Thanks for the assist, X-wing. You or your friend need any help?”
Artoo’s damage assessment came up on the computer screen. “No, I’m fine,” Luke said. “Han?”
“No problems here,” Han said. “We’ll give you an escort down if you want.”
“Sounds good to me,” the transport captain said. “Thanks again.”